Object recognition apparatus and object recognition method

ABSTRACT

An object recognition apparatus comprises a moving picture decoding section which decodes data obtained by encoding a moving picture. A background image producing section produces a background image based on encoding information and a reproduction image. An object recognizing section sets a predetermined region to detect a feature quantity of an object, and carries out matching between the reproduction image and the background image, thereby recognizing the object in the moving picture.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a division of and claims the benefit of priorityunder 35 USC §120 from U.S. application Ser. No. 10/183,403, filed Jun.28, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,941,020 and is based upon and claims thebenefit of priority under 35 USC §119 from Japanese Patent ApplicationNo. 2001-200164, filed Jun. 29, 2001, the entire contents of which areincorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an object recognition apparatus and anobject recognition method. More particularly, the present inventionrelates to an apparatus and method for recognizing an object or objectsthat have invaded into a moving picture from an output of a movingpicture encoding device or a moving picture decoding device.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, it is necessary to investigate a pixel value in order todetect a specific object in a moving picture and recognize the object.For example, in Akio Okazaki, “Beginners Guide to Image ProcessingTechnique”, Kogyo Chosakai, pp. 102–103, 2000, there has been introduceda process for isolating a moving object based on a backgrounddifferential. In this technique, a differential value in pixel valesbetween a reference background image and an input image is binarized bya threshold, thereby achieving isolation of the moving object. However,there is a problem that such a process concerning a pixel value requiresa large amount of computation. For example, in the case of a CIF formatwhich is frequently used in ITU-T H. 261, H 263, ISO/IEC MPEG-4 or thelike that is a standard scheme for encoding a moving picture, processinghas been necessary for a total of 101376 pixels that are horizontal 352pixels and vertical 288 pixels. For such a process with a large amountof computation, it has been necessary to provide dedicated hardware.Thus, there has been a large problem on an aspect of cost efficiency.

As a technique for detecting a moving object in a moving picture, inJpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 9-252467, “Moving ObjectDetecting Apparatus”, there has been proposed a method using a motionvector produced by a moving picture encoding device. According to thismethod, the motion vector for each macro-block produced by the movingpicture encoding device is employed. Thus, there is no need toparticularly investigate the motion of a pixel in order to detect amoving object, and an amount of computation can be significantlyreduced.

However, the following problem has occurred with a conventionaltechnique for detecting a moving object using encoded data. That is, amacro-block whose motion vector is large or a rewritten macro-block isnot always limited to a moving object. In addition, even in amacro-block in the moving object, a block which has not been rewrittenexists. Thus, when this technique is used for monitoring, a necessaryvideo image has not always been acquired successfully.

Further, in detection for each macro-block, when a target object isincluded partly in the macro-block, there has been a problem that suchinclusion is missed because an error is too small for each macro-block.Specifically, in a case shown in FIG. 8, since only a small error occursat parts of the head, left leg, and left arm of an invader 500 for eachmacro-block, it has been difficult to determine these parts as a portionof an invading object.

As has been described above, there has been a problem that a largeamount of computation is required to detect a specific object andrecognize what the object is. On the other hand, in the conventionaltechnique using encoded data, there has been a problem that therecognition precision is not sufficient.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an objectrecognition apparatus and an object recognition method with a smallamount of computation and high recognition precision.

In order to achieve the above described object, according to a firstaspect of the present invention, there is provided an object recognitionapparatus comprising:

a moving picture decoding section which decodes data obtained byencoding a moving picture;

a background image producing section which produces a background imagebased on encoding information from the moving picture decoding sectionand a reproduction image produced at the moving picture decodingsection; and

an object recognizing section which sets a predetermined region todetect a feature quantity of an object and carries out matching betweenthe reproduction image and the background image, thereby recognizing theobject in the moving picture.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is providedan object recognition method comprising:

decoding data obtained by encoding a moving picture;

producing a background image based on encoding information in the movingpicture decoding and a reproduction image produced in the moving picturedecoding; and

setting a predetermined region to detect a feature quantity of anobject, and carrying out matching between the reproduction image and thebackground image, thereby recognizing the object in the moving picture.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is providedan object recognition apparatus comprising:

a moving picture encoding section which encodes a moving picture;

a background image producing section which produces a background imagebased on encoding information from the moving picture encoding sectionand a local reproduction image produced at the moving picture encodingsection; and

an object recognizing section which sets a predetermined region todetect a feature quantity of an object, and carries out matching betweenthe local reproduction image and the background image, therebyrecognizing the object in the moving picture.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is providedan object recognition apparatus comprising:

a moving picture encoding section which encodes an input moving picture;

a background image producing section which produces a background imagebased on encoding information from the moving picture encoding sectionand the input moving picture; and

an object recognizing section which sets a predetermined region todetect a feature quantity of an object, and carries out matching betweenthe input moving picture and the background image, thereby recognizingan object in the moving picture.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an apparatus forrecognizing an object invading into a moving picture according to afirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an operation of an invading objectrecognizing section of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing a specific operation of a non-backgroundmacro-block determination result of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing an operation of a moving object featureextracting section according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a view when a detection result is displayed;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an encoding sectionof a device for detecting an object invading into a moving pictureaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a decoding sectionof the device for detecting an object invading into a moving pictureaccording to the second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 is a view when a detection result is displayed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(First Embodiment)

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will bedescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a blockdiagram showing a configuration of an apparatus for recognizing anobject invading into a moving picture according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. The apparatus for recognizing an object invading intoa moving picture shown in FIG. 1 comprises two sections, i.e., a movingpicture decoding section 110 and an invading object recognizing section118.

At the moving picture decoding section 110, first, encoded data receivedfrom a transmission channel or a storage system is temporarily stored inan input buffer 101. Then, the temporarily stored data is separatedbased on a syntax for each frame by a de-multiplexing section 102, andis outputted to a variable length code decoding section 103.

The variable length code decoding section 103 decodes a variable lengthcode of information on each syntax. If a macro-block mode is INTRA atthe variable length code decoding section 103, a mode selecting switch109 is selected to be OFF. In this case, quantization DCT coefficientinformation decoded by the variable length code decoding section 103 isinverse-quantized by an inverse-quantizing section 104, and inversediscrete cosine transform processing is applied by an IDCT section 105,thereby generating a reproduction image signal. This reproduction imagesignal is stored in a frame memory 107 as a reference image while thesignal is inputted to an invading object composition display section 117in the invading object recognizing section 118.

When the macro-block mode is INTER and NOT_CODED at the variable lengthcode decoding section 103, the mode selecting switch 109 is selected tobe OFF. In this case, quantization DCT coefficient information decodedby the variable length code decoding section 103 is inverse-quantized bythe inverse-quantizing section 104. Then, inverse discrete cosinetransform processing is carried out by the IDCT section 105, and theinformation is decoded by the variable length code decoding section 103.

A motion compensating section 108 motion-compensates for a referenceimage based on motion vector information decoded by the variable lengthcode decoding section 103, adds them by an adder 106, and generates areproduction image signal. This reproduction image signal is stored inthe frame memory 107 as a reference image while it is inputted to theinvading object composition display section 117 in the invading objectrecognizing section 118.

On the other hand, at the invading object recognizing section 118, anobject recognizing section 116 determines whether or not the macro-blockis an invading object from encoding information and a reproduction imagesignal from the variable length code decoding section 103 and an imagesignal of a background memory 115, and sends the recognition result tothe invading object composition display section 117 and a backgroundmemory update switch 111.

When the recognition result of the macro-block is an invading object,the background memory update switch 111 is turned OFF. Otherwise, theswitch is turned ON. When this background memory update switch 111 isturned ON, an image signal at the same location as the macro-block ofthe current background memory 115 is subtracted from a decode imagesignal of the macro-block in an adder 112. A value obtained bymultiplying the resulting value by W(W+1) is subtracted from the decodeimage signal of the macro-block in an adder 114 (where W is a parameterfor background updating and is a real number of 0 or more). Then, theresulting value is written as a new background into the backgroundmemory 115, whereby the value of the background memory 115 is updated.In this manner, a background image is produced.

The invading object composition display section 117 displays thelocation of the invading object to be composed with a reproduction imagefrom the recognition result and reproduction image signal sent from theobject recognizing section 116.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing an operation of the invading objectrecognizing section 118 for each frame. First, in a non-backgroundmacro-block determination processing (step S101), it is determinedwhether or not the macro-block is a non-background from the encodinginformation and reproduction image signal and the image signal of thebackground memory 115 for each macro-block.

Next, in a noise macro-block suppression (step S102), when all theadjacent 8 macro-blocks of the macro-blocks which has been determined asnon-background macro-blocks are background macro-blocks, they aredetermined as noise, and they are eliminated from the non-backgroundmacro-blocks.

In a background memory update processing (step S103), as explained inFIG. 1, the background memory 115 in a macro-block portion which hasbeen determined as a background macro-block is updated in accordancewith a reproduction image signal. Here, F_(C)(m, n) denotes an pixelvalue of a luminescence signal of a reproduction image signal of themacro-block; and B(m, n) denotes a pixel value of a background memory.Here, “m” and “n” denote addresses in vertical and horizontal directionsof the pixel values in a macro-block, where m=0 to 15 and n=0 to 15.

In the present embodiment, as shown in the following formula (1),luminescence values F_(C)(m, n) of a reproduction image signal of themacro-block are weighted by the parameter W (real of 0 or more) forbackground updating and averaged, and the resultant value is added in abackground memory B(m, n).

$\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{B\left( {m,n} \right)} = {{\frac{1}{W + 1}{F_{C}\left( {m,n} \right)}} + {\frac{W}{W + 1}{F\left( {m,n} \right)}}}} \\{= {{F_{C}\left( {m,n} \right)} - {\frac{W}{W + 1}\left( {{F_{C}\left( {m,n} \right)} - {B\left( {m,n} \right)}} \right)}}}\end{matrix} & (1)\end{matrix}$

When an image is not written in the background memory yet, thereproduction image signal F_(C)((m, n) of the macro-block is writteninto the background memory B(m, n).

A block configuration for updating the background memory 115 of FIG. 1corresponds to a case in which a formula for weighting and averaging ismodified into the right side of the formula (1).

Lastly, in a non-background macro-block inclusion processing (stepS104), a rectangular object is detected such that a macro-block whichhas been determined as a non-background macro-block is included, and itis determined whether or not the macro-block is included according torestriction in size of an invading object to be detected. The includedrectangle is composed with a reproduction image signal 400 to bedisplayed as a detection result, as shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 3 is a specific flow chart showing the non-background macro-blockdetermination processing (step S101). Here, “i” and “j” denote addressesof macro-blocks in vertical and horizontal directions in a frame,respectively. A two-dimensional matrix M[i] [j] is a matrix that storesinformation indicating whether or not each macro-block is a backgroundmacro-block where TRUE indicates a non-background object macro-block andFALSE indicates a background macro-block. An initial value of the matrixM is FALSE.

A determination is made about mode information MODE from the variablelength code decoding section 103 for each macro-block (step S203). Whenthe MODE is CODED, a detection error is obtained at a matching sectionin the macro-block based on the reproduction image signal of themacro-block and the image signal of the background memory 115 (stepS204).

Then, this detection error is compared with a threshold TH (step S205).When the error is greater than the threshold TH, it is determined thatthe macro-block is a non-background macro-block, and TRUE is substitutedfor M[i] [j] (step S206). When the error is equal to or smaller than thethreshold TH, the macro-block is judged to be a background block, andFALSE is substituted for M[i] [j] (step S207). When the MODE isNOT_CODED, nothing is done, and the processing goes to the nextmacro-block processing.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining an operation of a matching section in amacro-block in the step S204. This example shows a format of a CIFluminescence signal, which is composed of vertical 288 pixels andhorizontal 352 pixels. Each macro-block is defined as vertical 16 pixelsand horizontal 16 pixels. Here, in the macro-block, a-small block ofvertical M₁ pixels and horizontal M₂ pixels is set, and a detectionerror between a small block of a reproduction image signal and a smallblock of a background memory is obtained. At this time, the small blockmay be set so as to be overlapped with the surrounding macro-block.

In the present embodiment, when the value of the detection error is thegreatest in a search range, it is assumed as a result of the detectionerror of the matching section in the macro-block. At this time, thesearch range is defined as a vertical range of “i”×16−M₁/2 to(i+1)×16−M₁/2−1 and a horizontal range of “j”×16−M₂/2 to (j+1)×16−M₂/2−1when a pixel at the upper left corner of a small block is defined as astart point.

In the present embodiment, as computation of the detection error, thereis employed an average of ratios of an absolute value in differencebetween the reproduction image signal shown in the following formula (2)and the image signal of the background memory to the image signal of thebackground memory.

$\begin{matrix}{T = {\frac{1}{M_{1} \times M_{2}}{\sum\limits_{m = 0}^{M_{1} - 1}{\sum\limits_{n = 0}^{M_{2} - 1}{\frac{{B\left( {m,n} \right)} - {F_{C}\left( {m,n} \right)}}{B\left( {m,n} \right)}}}}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$Where, F_(C)(m, n) denotes a pixel value of a luminescence signal of areproduction image signal, and B(m, n) denotes a pixel value of abackground memory. Here, “m” and “n” denote addresses in vertical andhorizontal directions of pixel values in a small block, where m=0 toM₁−1, n=0 to M₂−1.

In this way, a small block is set in a macro-block, and an error isdetected, whereby, even if an invading object exists partly in themacro-block, such an error can be detected.

In the present embodiment, although a description has been given,assuming that the shape of a small block is rectangular, the small blockin another shape may be used. In addition, in the present embodiment,although a description has been given, assuming that the ratios of theabsolute value of a difference between the reproduction image signalshown in the formula (2) and the image signal of the background memoryto the image signal of the background memory are averaged, for example,another evaluation scale such as specific color, texture, shape or thelike may be used.

In the present embodiment, the reproduction image signal can bepartially processed without being entirely processed, by efficientlyusing encoding information for a moving picture decoder. Thus, imagerecognition processing can be carried out with a small amount ofcomputation. In addition, a small block is set in a macro-block, and anerror is detected by matching, whereby an invading object recognitionresult can be obtained with high precision.

(Second Embodiment)

FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 are block diagrams each showing a configuration of anapparatus for recognizing an object invading into a moving pictureaccording to a second embodiment of the present invention. In thepresent embodiment, an invading object recognizing section is combinedwith a moving picture encoding section.

In FIG. 6, an input moving picture signal is divided into macro-blocksby a blocking section 201. The input moving picture signal divided intomacro-blocks is inputted to a subtracter 202, a difference from apredicted image signal is obtained, and a predicted residual differencesignal is generated. One of the predicted residual difference signal andthe input moving picture signal from the blocking section 201 isselected by a mode selecting switch 203. Then, the selected signal issubjected to a discrete cosine transform by a DCT (discrete cosinetransforming) section 204. The DCT coefficient data obtained by the DCTsection 204 is quantized by a quantizing section 205. The signalquantized by the quantizing section 205 is branched into two components,and one component of the branched signal is encoded to be a variablelength by a variable length code encoding section 214. The othercomponent of the quantized and branched signals is sequentiallysubjected to processing of the quantizing section 205 and DCT section204 and inverse processing by means of an inverse-quantizing section 206and an IDCT (inverse discrete cosine transforming) section 207. Then, alocal decode signal is generated by being added to a predicted imagesignal to be inputted via a switch 211 by an adder 208. This localdecode signal is stored in a frame memory 209, and is inputted to amotion compensating section 210. The motion compensating section 210generates a predicted image signal, and sends information required forthe mode selecting switch 203.

A mode selecting section 212 selects a macro-block which carries outinter-frame encoding and a macro-block which carries out intra-frameencoding for each macro-block, based on predicted information P from themotion compensating section 210. When intra-frame encoding(intra-encoding) is carried out, mode selecting switch information M isdefined as A, and switch information S is defined as A. When inter-frameencoding (inter-encoding) is carried out, mode selecting switchinformation M is defined as B, and switch information S is defined as B.

In the mode selecting switch 203, switching is performed based on themode selecting switch information P. Also, in the switch 211, switchingis performed based on the switch information S. As the mode, there arean intra mode (INTRA), an inter mode (INTER), and an non-encode mode(NOT_CODED). Each of the modes is associated for each macro-block, theINTRA macro-block is an image region to be inter-frame encoded, theINTER macro-block is an image region to be intra-frame encoded, and theNOT_CODED macro-block is an encoding free image region.

On the other hand, in an invading object recognizing section 226, anobject recognizing section 224 determines whether the macro-block is aninvading object from the encoding information and the local reproductionimage signal from the variable length code encoding section 214 and theimage signal of the background memory. Then, the recognition result issent to an invading object composition display section 225 and abackground memory update switch 219. When the recognition result of themacro-block is an invading object, the background memory update switch219 is turned OFF. Otherwise, the switch is turned ON. When thebackground memory update switch 219 is turned ON, the background memory223 subtracts an image signal at the same location as the macro-block ofthe current background memory 223 from the decode image signal of themacro-block by means of an adder 220. Then, a value obtained bymultiplying W/(W+1) for the subtracted value (W is a parameter forbackground updating and is a real of 0 or more) by means of a multiplier221 is subtracted in an adder 222 from the decode image signal of themacro-block. Then, the resultant value is written as a new backgroundinto a background memory 223, whereby the value of the background memory223 is updated. In this manner, a background image is produced.

The invading object composition display section 225 composes thelocation of an invading object in a reproduction image from therecognition result and the reproduction image signal sent from an objectrecognizing section 224 for displaying.

The contents of processing by the object recognizing section 224, theinvading object composition display section 225 and the like areidentical to those of processing shown in FIG. 2 to FIG. 5 and theformulas (1) and (2) in the above described first embodiment.

An encoding control section 213 controls the encoding section 217 basedon encoding information of the moving picture encoding section 218 and abuffer quantity of the output buffer 216. The encoded data encoded bythe variable length code encoding section 214 is multiplexed by themultiplexing section 215 based on the recognition result from the objectrecognizing section 224. Then, a transmission rate is smoothened by theoutput buffer 216. The smoothened transmission rate is sent as encodeddata to a transmission system or storage system.

Although the local reproduction signal and the image signal of thebackground memory are used in the invading object recognizing section226 of FIG. 6, a method using the input moving picture signal and theimage signal of the background memory is also available. In the case ofthis method, an input moving picture memory for one frame is required.However, there is an advantage that the signals are not affected byvideo image degradation due to encoding because a local reproductionimage signal is not used.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a decoding section in response to theencoding section of FIG. 6.

First, a moving picture decoding section 310 temporarily stores encodeddata received from a transmission channel or storage system in an inputbuffer 301. Then, a de-multiplexing section 302 de-multiplexes theencoded data temporarily stored for each frame based on a syntax, andoutputs the data to a variable length code decoding section 303. Thevariable length code decoding section 303 decodes a variable length codeof information of each syntax.

If a macro-block mode is INTRA at the variable length code decodingsection 303, a mode selecting switch 409 is selected to be OFF. Then,quantization DCT coefficient information decoded by the variable lengthcode decoding section 303 is inverse-quantized by an inverse-quantizingsection 304. Then, inverse discrete cosine transform processing iscarried out by an IDCT section 305, thereby generating a reproductionimage signal. This reproduction image signal is stored in a frame memory307 as a reference image while it is inputted to an invading objectcomposition display section 311.

If the micro-block mode is INTER or NOT_CODED at the variable lengthcode decoding section 303, a mode selecting switch 309 is selected to beOFF. Then, the quantization DCT coefficient information decoded by thevariable length code decoding section 303 is inverse-quantized by theinverse-quantizing section 304. Then, inverse discrete cosine transformprocessing is carried out by the IDCT section 305. Based on motionvector information decoded by the variable length code decoding section303, a motion compensating section 308 motion-compensates for areference image, adds them by an adder 306, and generates a reproductionimage signal. This reproduction image signal is stored in the framememory 307 as a reference image while it is inputted to the invadingobject composition display section 311. On the other hand, the invadingobject determination result de-multiplexed by the de-multiplexingsection 302 is inputted to the invading object composition displaysection 311.

In the present embodiment, recognition processing of the invading objectwhich has been carried out by the moving picture decoder in the firstembodiment is carried out in combination with a moving picture encoder,thereby multiplexing the recognition result. However, there may be useda method of encoding as another object a rectangular image per se thatincludes a macro-block which has been determined as inclusive of aninvading object by ISO/IEC MPEG-4 multi-object encoding, and then,multiplexing the object to be sent to a moving picture decoding device.

As has been described above, in the present embodiment, although therehas been shown an example when processing is carried out in units of allthe macro-blocks, of course, there can be used a similar method even inprocessing in units smaller or greater than the above units. Inaddition, although a description has been given by way of example of ascheme using the DCT as the moving picture encoding method, a similarmethod can be used for another transform technique, for example, Wavelettransform or the like.

In the present embodiment, the reproduction image signal can bepartially processed without being entirely processed, by efficientlyusing encoding information contained in the moving picture encodingsection. Thus, image recognition processing can be carried out with asmall amount of computation. In addition, a small block is set in amacro-block, and an error is detected by matching, whereby an invadingobject recognition result can be obtained with high precision.

It should be noted that the object recognition apparatus according tothe present invention can recognize an object or a plurality of objectsin a moving picture.

According to the above described first and second embodiments, a portionto be processed in units of pixels can be narrowed by using a movingpicture encoding/decoding technique, thus making it possible to carryout processing with a small amount of computation. In addition, a smallregion for detecting a feature quantity of an invading object is set,and matching between an input image and a background image is carriedout, thereby making it possible to achieve object recognition with highrecognition precision.

As has been described above, according to the present invention, therecan be provided an object recognition apparatus and an recognitionmethod capable of recognizing a specific object with a high speed, highstability, and high precision.

Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects isnot limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shownand described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventiveconcept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

1. An object recognition method comprising: decoding data obtained byencoding a moving picture; producing a background image based onencoding information derived during decoding and producing areproduction image based on data decoded in said decoding; and setting apredetermined region to detect a feature quantity of an object andcarrying out matching between said reproduction image and saidbackground image, thereby recognizing the object in the moving picture.2. An object recognition method according to claim 1, wherein thesetting step comprises performing a non-background determination processwherein whether mode information from the moving picture decodingsection represents encoding or not is determined for each macro-block,and when the mode information represents encoding, a small block ofvertical M₁ pixels and horizontal M₂ pixels is set in a macro-block, andwhether the macro-block is a non-background or not is determined, basedon a detection error between the small block of the reproduction imageand the small block of the background image.
 3. An object recognitionmethod according to claim 2, wherein the setting step comprisesperforming a non-background determination process wherein whether modeinformation from the moving picture decoding section represents encodingor not is determined for each macro-block, and when the mode informationrepresents not encoding, the processing goes to a next macro-blockprocessing.
 4. An object recognition method according to claim 2,wherein the setting step comprises performing a noise suppressionprocess wherein when all the adjacent 8 macro-blocks of a macro-blockwhich has been determined as non-background are background macro-blocks,they are determined as noise, and eliminated from non-backgroundmacro-blocks.
 5. An object recognition method according to claim 4,further comprising: storing the background image, said setting stepcomprising performing a process of updating the background memorywherein a portion of the background memory which has been determined asa background macro-block is updated in accordance with the reproductionimage.
 6. An object recognition method according to claim 4, wherein thesetting step comprises performing a non-background inclusion processwherein a rectangular object is detected such that a macro-block whichhas been determined as a non-background is included, and it isdetermined whether or not the macro-block is included according torestriction in size of the object.
 7. An object recognition methodcomprising: encoding a moving picture; producing a background imagebased on information derived during encoding and a local reproductionimage based on information encoded in the encoding; and setting apredetermined region to detect a feature quantity of an object, andcarrying out matching between said local reproduction image and saidbackground image, thereby recognizing the object in the moving picture.8. An object recognition method according to claim 7, wherein thesetting step comprises performing a non-background determination processwherein whether mode information from the moving picture encodingsection represents encoding or not is determined for each macro-block,and when the mode information represents encoding, a small block ofvertical M₁ pixels and horizontal M₂ pixels is set in a macro-block, andwhether the macro-block is a non-background or not is determined, basedon a detection error between the small block of the local reproductionimage and the small block of the background image.
 9. An objectrecognition method according to claim 7, wherein the setting stepcomprises performing a non-background determination process whereinwhether mode information from the moving picture encoding sectionrepresents encoding or not is determined for each macro-block, and whenthe mode information represents not encoding, the processing goes to anext macro-block processing.
 10. An object recognition method accordingto claim 9, wherein the setting step comprises performing a noisesuppression process wherein when all the adjacent 8 macro-blocks of amacro-block which has been determined as non-background are backgroundmacro-blocks, they are determined as noise, and eliminated fromnon-background macro-blocks.
 11. An object recognition method accordingto claim 10, further comprising: storing the background image, whereinthe setting step comprises performing a process of updating thebackground memory wherein a portion of the background memory which hasbeen determined as a background macro-block is updated in accordancewith the local reproduction image.
 12. An object recognition methodaccording to claim 10, wherein the setting step comprises performing anon-background inclusion process wherein a rectangular object isdetected such that a macro-block which has been determined as anon-background is included, and it is determined whether or not themacro-block is included according to restriction in size of the object.13. An object recognition method comprising: encoding an input movingpicture; producing a background image based on information derivedduring encoding and producing a moving picture image based on said inputmoving picture; and setting a predetermined region to detect a featurequantity of an object, and carrying out matching between said inputmoving picture image and said background image, thereby recognizing theobject in the moving picture.
 14. An object recognition method accordingto claim 13, wherein the setting step comprises performing anon-background determination process wherein whether mode informationfrom the moving picture encoding section represents encoding or not isdetermined for each macro-block, and when the mode informationrepresents encoding, a small block of vertical M₁ pixels and horizontalM₂ pixels is set in a macro-block, and whether the macro-block is anon-background or not is determined, based on a detection error betweenthe small block of the input moving picture and the small block of thebackground image.
 15. An object recognition method according to claim14, wherein the setting step comprises performing a noise suppressionprocess wherein when all the adjacent 8 macro-blocks of a macro-blockwhich has been determined as non-background are background macro-blocks,they are determined as noise, and eliminated from non-backgroundmacro-blocks.
 16. An object recognition method according to claim 15,further comprising: storing the background image, wherein the settingstep comprises performing a process of updating the background memorywherein a portion of the background memory which has been determined asa background macro-block is updated in accordance with the input movingpicture.
 17. An object recognition method according to claim 15, whereinthe setting step comprises performing a non-background inclusion processwherein a rectangular object is detected such that a macro-block whichhas been determined as a non-background is included, and it isdetermined whether or not the macro-block is included according torestriction in size of the object.
 18. An object recognition methodaccording to claim 13, wherein the setting step comprises performing anon-background determination process wherein whether mode informationfrom the moving picture encoding section represents encoding or not isdetermined for each macro-block, and when the mode informationrepresents not encoding, the processing goes to a next macro-blockprocessing.